Door lock mechanism



March 14, 1967 c. R. NASH 3,309,128

DOOR LOCK MECHANISM Filed March 18, 1964 INVENTOR. 'zv/ver 7?. N46}.

United States 3,36%,128 Patented Mar. 14, 1967 3,3il9,128 DOOR LOCK MECHANISM Culver R. Nash, Royal Gals, Mich, assignor to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 18, 1964-, Ser. No. 352,301 1 Claim. (Cl. 292-280) This invention relates generally to a door lock mechanism comprised of a latching device and striker and more particularly to such a door locking mechanism particularly adapted for use on an automotive vehicle.

It is accepted practice to provide a latching device secured to the swingable end of a vehicle door while securing a cooperating striker to the vehicle door pillar or frame. Such arrangements as provided by the prior art are primarily intended to maintain a vehicle door in closed position only with reference to its swinging movement about the axis of the supporting hinges.

However, relatively high forces, as caused for examp during vehicle impact, applied against the vehicle body and/ or door often result in structural deformations which, in turn, cause relative movement between the door pillar or frame and the door. If such structural deformation is great, the door and door pillar will experience sulficient relative motion, in a direction generally longitudinally of the vehicle, causing the latching device to be pulled away from the cooperating striker thereby allowing the vehicle door to be thrown open. Such opening of the door or doors, of course, exposes the occupants of the vehicle to increased dangers.

Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide a novel and improved vehicle door lock mechanism which is effective for not only maintaining closure of the vehicle door during normal conditions but which is also extremely effective for maintaining the vehicle door in a closed and latched condition during such periods as, for example, vehicular impact.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent when reference is made to the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a view, partly in section, taken substantially on the plane of line 11 of FIGURE 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, illustrating a closed and latched door equipped with a door lock arrangement comprised of a striker and latch assembly in accordance with the teachings of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken generally on the plane of line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but illustrating the door lock arrangement in an open and unlatched condition.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings, the door lock mechanism is illustrated as being comprised of a latch drive 18, secured within an opening 12 of a door frame 14 as by means of a plurality of screws 16 passing through the door 14 and threadably engaging a latch plate 18. and a striker 2i} secured to the door pillar 22 as by means of screws 24.

A frame member 26 suitably secured to latch plate 18, as by means of tabs passing through latch plate 18 and being welded to the rear side thereof as shown at 28, provides an upper housing portion 30 and a lower latch bolt support 32 which are joined to each other by an integrally formed bridging-like portion 34. The upper housing 30 may be formed to have a generally laterally extending top wall 36 and a vertical side wall 38 which cooperate with end wall portions 4t) and 42 in defining generally a chamber 44 for the reception therein of a wedge member 46. As shown in FIGURES l and 3, wall portion 42 may be an extension of the intermediate bridge 34.

A guide rod 43 retained at its opposite ends in wall portions and 42 of housing 30, extends through an aperture 5'9 formed through wedge 46 permitting movement of wedge 46 axially therealong. A coiled spring 52 contained about rod 48 is partially received within a counterborelike recess 54 of wedge 46 and abuts against Wall portion so as to continually urge wedge 46 to the left towards wall portion 40.

The lower latch bolt support 32 is formed to be generally vertically positioned laterally extending arm 56 having a bearing aperture 58 formed therethrough which receives a projecting bearing shaft 60 of a rotary or gear type latch bolt 62. The rotary latch bolt 62 is comprised of a plurality of radially extending tooth-like projections 64- circurnferentially spaced about a centrally disposed body portion 66 which may include a shoulderlike extension 68. Latch bolt 62 is also provided with a second shaft portion 70 which is suitably journalled through latch plate 13 as illustrated, for example, by hearing aperture 72 of FIGURE 2. Shafts 60 and 70 may, of course, be integrally formed with each other and/or with body 66 or, if desired, assembled to each other. A ratchet member or some other suitable device can be provided on shaft 76 so as to cooperate with other elements of the latch mechanism 10 in order to hold the latch bolt 62 against rotation in the door unlatching direction while still being releasable so as to permit the free rotation of the latch bolt 62 in the door unlatching direction when such is desired. Any operating mechanism adaptable to the control of such a ratchet or latch bolt 62 is, of course, suitable to the practice of the invention as herein disclosed.

Striker 20, of generally C-like configuration, has a medially located slot-like opening 74 suitable for the reception therein of said latch bolt 62 and the latch bolt support arm 56. The upper surface of opening 74 has formed thereon downwardly depending tooth-like projections 76, 78 and 80.

The tooth-like projections 76, 78 and 80 are adapted to coact with teeth 64 of the rotary latch bolt 62 to keep the door in a fullly closed and latched condition as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2. 7

FIGURE 3 illustrates the vehicle door 14 in an open unl-atched condition. As the door 14 is swung towards the closed position, latch assembly 10 moves toward striker 26 causing tooth or projection 8d of striker 20 to first contact and engage teeth 64 of the rotary latch bolt 62. T ooth 8t) can be regarded as a safety tooth in that if the door 14 for some reason fails to become completely closed tooth gt by virtue of being engaged between two teeth 64 of rotary latch bolt 62, will prevent the accidental swinging open of the vehicle door 14 about its supporting hinges.

With reference to each of FIGURES 1-3, it can be seen that striker has a wall 82 formed at one side thereof which extends generally from the upper portion 84 to the lower portion 86. Wall 82 also has a slot-like opening 88 formed therein which permits the reception therethrough of the projecting rotary latch bolt 62. As best seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, when the door 14 is in either a fully closed and latched condition or a partially closed and latched condition wall 82 is between the radially projecting teeth 64 of the latch bolt 62 and the door 14 and latch plate 18. Consequently, any attempt by the door 14 and door pillar 22 to experience relative motion longitudinally of the vehicle will be limited and inhibited because of the containment of wall 82 between the teeth 64 and the latch carrying door 14.

Upper portion 84 of striker 2t? has formed thereon a ramp or inclined surface 90 which is adapted to engage a generally complementary inclined surface 92 of wedge 46. The cooperative action of wedge 46, rod 48, spring 52 ramp surfaces 90 and 92 cause the latch assembly and door 14 to be normally urged to the right, as viewed in FIGURE 1, With respect to striker thereby eliminating a possible source of door rattles as might occur if the cooperating elements were not held against each other. In furtherance of this objective, wedge 46 is preferably made of a material such as nylon.

Striker 20 is cast of malleable iron thereby providing a structure which has not been subjected to forming stresses prior to its installation onto the vehicle as the prior art strikers which are made from stamped metal and necessarily stressed beyond the material yield point during the stamping operation.

Additional important advantages are obtained such as the increased strength and rigidity of the upper portion of the striker over that of the prior art. That is, by making the striker 20 as a casting of malleable iron it is possible to have the downwardly depending tootl1-like projections 76, '78 and 80 not only integral with the upper portion 84 of striker 20 but also integral with the upper portion of wall 82. Teeth 76, 78 and 80 thereby not only serve a purely latching function but also act as reinforcing gussets to prevent the deformation of the upper portion of wall 82 during such periods as vehicle impact.

In view of the above, it can be seen that wall 82, opening 74 and the outer surface of door pillar 22 define a general chamber 96 for the containment of the rotary latch 62. Further, it can be seen that movement of the latch 10 relative to the striker 20, longitudinally of the vehicle, is effectively precluded by the resulting abutting action between the Wall 82 and rotary latch 62, while the possibility of a twisting action of the rotary latch relative to the striker occurring during vehicle impact, is greatly minimized, if not totally eliminated, by virtue of not only the relatively Wide area of contact between teeth 76, '78, 80 and teeth 64 but also because of the supporting arm portion 56.

Another problem has long existed with strikers of the prior art; that is, since the striker is placed on the door pillar, passengers have, not infrequently, caught and torn articles of clothing while entering or alighting from the vehicle and, in fact, caused bodily injury to themselves by the unprotected protruding portions of prior art strikers.

The striker 20, as disclosed, also avoids these problems by being of a unitary cast configuration presenting to a great extent a box-like appearance and configuration which has no surfaces presenting a danger to passengers. Even the downwardly depending teeth 76, 78 and 80 are effectively precluded from becoming a hazard by the protective action of wall 82. Further, as seen in both FIGURES 1 and 3, even wall 82 has been tapered as at 94 to further eliminate a potential hazard.

Although only one preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed and described, it is apparent that other embodiments and modifications of the invention are possible within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

In combination, a rotatable latch device mounted on the edge wall of a swinging door, said latch device comprising a rotary latch gear having circumferentially spaced radiating substantially uniform gear teeth, a shaft portion projecting from an axial end of said gear, said shaft portion projecting in a direction so as to have said latch gear located generally between said projecting shaft portion and said edge wall of said swinging door, a support arm carried by said latch device and extending about said latch gear so as to provide a bearing support for said projection shaft portion, a striker for said latch device comprising a body of generally C-like configuration, a generally medially located slot-like opening formed in said body for the reception therein of said rotary latch gear, said slot-like opening providing upper, lower and end surfaces with said end surface forming a generally closed end in said body and joining said upper and lower surfaces, a plurality of tooth-like projections formed integrally with said body and depending downwardly from said upper surface for coaction with said gear teeth, a wall formed on one side of said body integrally therewith and integrally joining said tooth-like projections to each other, and a second slot-like opening formed through said wall permitting the reception therethrough of said rotary latch gear, said second slot-like opening being of a length and width which results in a portion of said wall extending continuously along each of said surfaces in a manner so as to be generally normal to said surfaces, said wall portion and said surfaces generally defining a chamber for the reception and containment of said rotary latch gear, projecting shaft portion and a portion of said support arm, and said wall portion presenting a continuous abutment against which said gear teeth can abut in order to prevent separation of said rotary latch gear and said striker in a direction axially of said rotary latch gear, said continuous wall portion being effective to abut all of said gear teeth which are engaged with said tooth-like projections as well as such of said gear teeth as are in close proximity to said end surface and said lower surface.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,914,353 11/1959 Roethel.

2,952,487 9/ 1960 Roethel.

2,998,275 8/ 1961 Nallinger et al. 3,047,325 7/1962 De Vito.

3,081,117 3/ 1963 McDaniel.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,107,121 5/1961 Germany.

BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD E. MOORE, Examiner. 

